David Einhorn, who is trouncing the market this year, bought a small cap crude oil play

Published Wed, Nov 15 20231:42 PM ESTUpdated Wed, Nov 15 20231:49 PM EST

David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital made several bets in energy and health care during the third quarter, according to a new securities filing. The hedge fund opened a new position in small cap-crude oil tanker company DHT Holdings , which was worth nearly $20.9 million at the end of the third quarter, according to a 13F Securities and Exchange filing. The stock rallied 20% during that period and is up 16% year to date. Einhorn also increased his stake in natural gas developer Southwestern Energy by 9.5%. That position was worth $65.2 million. Greenlight did sell about 15% of its shares in coal mining company Consol Energy . Its stake is still worth $252.2 million, making it the second-highest holding in its portfolio. Although several of Greenlight's top holdings are in energy, Einhorn expressed in a letter to investors this month worries about a surge in oil prices amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East and Russia's continued war in Ukraine — which he said would squeeze the consumer and lead the U.S. economy into a recession. He added that he has stopped building new stock positions for the time being due to these intensifying geopolitical risks. In health care, the hedge fund increased its holdings in Sotera Health by a whopping 6,083%, the filing showed. The position was worth more than $5 million by the end of September. Shares of the lab testing provider are up more than 66% this year, but dipped roughly 7% this quarter after the company said it anticipates its full-year results to come out lower than previously expected due to broader market softness. Greenlight also bought up shares in biotech names Gain Therapeutics and Coya Therapeutics , increasing those stakes by 7.7% and 19.2%, respectively. The fund's largest position, homebuilding stock Green Brick Partners , was worth more than $512 million as of the end of September. The firm sold about a quarter of its shares in the company during the period. Elsewhere, the firm increased its exposure in information tech company Kyndryl Holdings , amounting to $84.4 million in total value, and Brighthouse Financial by just $3.1 million. Greenlight has soared past the broader market this year, returning 12.9% in the third quarter to bring its 2023 gains to more than 27%. The S & P 500, meanwhile, has gained 17.6% so far this year.